Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Caymans says it is well regulated

The number of suspicious financial activity reports in the Caymans increased from 219 in government’s 2006/07 budget year to 358 in the fiscal year that ended as of 30 June. This was taken as a sign of increased vigilance and a clean-up.

We would note two things here. First, the Caymans Attorney General said that

"[It shows] this jurisdiction will be hostile to those who wish to use it…for money laundering and terrorist financing."

This is the same old story. Focus exclusively on the smaller-scale issues - money laundering and terrorist financing - and you get to leave the big money - tax evasion (and avoidance) -- alone. Second, the number 358 seems impressive - until you read Tax Research UK, which notes:

"Cayman is the fifth biggest financial centre in the world, and one where secrecy is paramount – with massive legal penalties to enforce it. London is a bigger financial centre, admittedly. And secrcy is still important. But there’s some indication of a difference in culture: Cayman had 358 SARs. We had 228,834 in the year to September 2009."

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The Tax Justice Network (TJN) is an international, non-aligned network of researchers and activists with a shared concern about the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens.
www.taxjustice.net